Gee it’s been a while since we’ve had a dead-set great melodic hardcore/skate punk band from Sweden, but for those yearning for the days of SATANIC SURFERS, MILLENCOLIN, PENNYWISE and NOFX, let me introduce you to possibly one of your new favourite bands ATLAS LOSING GRIP. STATE OF UNREST is the band’s second full length album and while their debut is an honourable slab of melodic hardcore, this time around they have grown from beginners into a fully-fledged skate punk powerhouse that should find their way onto the bill of many, many festivals across the globe over the next couple of years.

Probably the most significant event of the band between albums is the fact that they landed ex-SATANIC SURFERS vocalist Rodrigo Alfaro, and though you may not have heard of him directly let’s just day that he and his old band were pretty important pieces of the skate punk movement in Sweden through the mid to late nineties. The songwriting has also improved this time around and it really feels world class this time. Awesome tunes like UNREST, CLOSER TO THE END and NUMB all do a great job of showing the band’s capabilities, but as a whole STATE OF UNREST is a worthy listen cover to cover.

The band’s penchant for spending a lot of time in a mid-pace setting helps separate them from the pack, as a lot of similar bands go full throttle the whole time but ATLAS LOSING GRIP really know when to add some colour to the songs. The gang-shout vocals that a staple trademark of the genre are here in abundance but never feel contrived, and Alfaro’s superb vocal effort really is the icing on the cake.

I have to admit that I don’t listen to this type of music nearly as much as I used to, but if the skate punk/melodic hardcore genre can be graced with releases of this quality constantly then a mass resurgence may well be on the cards in the future.

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